"I thought for sure you'd take that jewel for yourself." Watching Kagome's sleepwalking, wobbling figure recede into the distance, Sū ěr squinted at Think and joked, "Has your research drive failed to ignite this time?"
"What difference does it make if it's in that little girl's hands or mine?" Think shook her head. "There are too many things that need researching, and you and that brainless girl over there are no help at all… Weren't you going to ask Nura Nurarihyon? Then move it. I'm actually quite curious myself."
Though they all knew Think was the only one capable of such sophisticated research, Sū ěr and Jibril were still loath to admit their own intellectual shortcomings.
Jibril remained at the back mountain of the Higurashi Shrine to prevent any more yōkai or anomalies from popping up while they were gone, while Sū ěr took Think—who could not stray far from him—directly to the Nura estate.
Nura Nurarihyon was busy freeloading a meal at the house next door; Sū ěr appeared, snatched him up, and dropped him back in the Nura residence in record time.
"Can't you just tell me about all these weird things in one go for once?" Sū ěr sat opposite the old yōkai and spoke irritably.
"…Weird things?" After the initial tension, Nurarihyon realized it was Sū ěr and stopped resisting, but he was still speechless at the sudden change in scenery. "What are you even talking about?"
The long-headed old demon blankly stuffed a snack he'd swiped from next door into his mouth and chewed. This disjointed conversation made zero sense to him.
"Speaking of which, if you're here… is the fight over? Did that vampire kid win?" Nurarihyon asked curiously. "Rikuo took all the Nura Clan yōkai over there to cheer him on, leaving this place quite lonely. Didn't you all come back together?"
Sū ěr: "..."
Right. Araragi Koyomi was still fighting.
Entranced by the massive swarm of yōkai and the new time portal at the shrine, Sū ěr had nearly forgotten an acquaintance of his was currently fighting for his life for the sake of a vampire child.
"Forget that, there's something more important," Sū ěr said with a grave expression. "Do you know about the Shikon Jewel? Hand over the details, now."
"The Shikon—The Shikon Jewel?!" Nurarihyon's casual expression instantly turned to shock. "You saw the Shikon Jewel?"
"Ah, I know what 'weird things' you were talking about now… If you live long enough, you see a lot of things like that. Every ten years or so, some human or yōkai, driven by ambition or desire, 'discovers' some strange artifact that can boost their power. These treasures make a splash for a while and then vanish into thin air. If I tried to tell you about every single one, I'd never finish!" After the initial surprise, Nurarihyon regained his unhurried composure.
"…The Shikon Jewel," Sū ěr repeated with narrowing eyes.
Is this guy asking for a beating, putting on his 'grandpa's story time' act?
"Alright, alright, you're so impatient. You don't act like a Great Yōkai who's lived so long at all," Nurarihyon grumbled. "In short, as I said, in the history of yōkai, things frequently appear that allow the owner to become powerful in a short time. Though, most of them are traps specifically set by other yōkai or Onmyōji… But among these numerous power-boosting treasures, the Shikon Jewel is in a league of its own."
"Hmm, if I were younger and heard news of the Shikon Jewel, even I might have bitten the hook," Nurarihyon sighed. "Fortunately, I'm old now."
"Is it that strong? It can boost a yōkai's power that much?" Sū ěr immediately understood why the demons crawling out of the well had erupted with such frantic energy at the sight of that small pink jade and the mention of its name.
As had been said before: in the world of yōkai, power is everything.
"It can directly elevate a minor yōkai's power to that of a Great Yōkai—or even far beyond. What do you think?" Nurarihyon countered. "To be honest, if I didn't know that those who get the Shikon Jewel never come to a good end, I'd be tempted to use my prized sake to trade for information to give to Rikuo… But with your strength, you don't need it anyway, right?"
"You actually have 'prized' sake?" Sū ěr eyes lit up; that was an unexpected bonus.
"Get out, get out, get out!" Nurarihyon rolled his eyes in annoyance. Honestly, only when staying with this guy he couldn't beat did he feel like he wasn't a Nurarihyon. Why was he always the one being freeloaded on?
It was a disgrace to all Nurarihyon!
"That's not right. That jewel can produce a strong reaction in the hands of a human, and it was effectively lethal against yōkai," Think manifested herself and tapped the table. As she spoke, the image of the Shikon Jewel emitting white light in Kagome's hands flashed in Sū ěr mind.
She temporarily omitted the fact that the jewel they found also absorbed the yōkai.
"Ah, that was my oversight. I should have been more precise," Nurarihyon nodded and continued. "The correct way to put it is that whether it's a human or a yōkai, no one who possesses the Shikon Jewel ever meets a good end."
"It is like an evil thing that devours life, devoid of its own stance or preferences. Perhaps one gains great power from it at first, but in the ensuing gaze of greedy eyes, no one can hold onto it. Thus, it devours the lives of its successive masters alongside them." Recalling the rumors he'd heard, even Nurarihyon's voice held a trace of dread.
"Passing constantly between the hands of humans and yōkai, in human hands, it grants the user powerful spiritual energy—even allowing them to exterminate demons with the jewel itself. But in the hands of a yōkai, it raises their power to unimaginable heights, along with their desires and ambitions… right until they die."
"Hmm, thinking about it that way, let's forget giving it to Rikuo," Nurarihyon shrugged. "Have you decided how to handle it? Seal it away or just… oh, by the way, with your strength, can't you just shatter it or destroy it completely?" Nurarihyon asked curiously.
The old demon seemed to have already assumed that, after Sū ěr mentioned the name, the jewel had fallen into his hands centuries later.